Showing posts with label Sandwiches. Show all posts
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March 05, 2016
It’s not unusual for me to borrow ideas from the various restaurants I visit, but they’re normally tweaked, altered, or otherwise adapted. This time, however, I just blatantly stole this spring vegetable tartine with white anchovies, as it. Why mess with perfection?

Yes, this spring vegetable tartine, featuring the awesomeness that is the white anchovy, was lifted almost verbatim from SHED, which is my current, “favorite place to eat.” If you’re ever anywhere near Healdsburg, CA (like within 500 miles), you simply must visit this amazing store/café/charcuterie/restaurant hybrid.

Now that I’ve offset some of my guilt for stealing this recipe with such a glowing recommendation, I can move on to this intensely tasty tartine. This would be incredibly delicious with just the aioli and vegetables, but when you add the “boquerones,” this goes from great sandwich, to memorable experience.

Even if you think you hate anchovies, which you really don’t, you may still love these, since they are so completely different. They are very mild in flavor, but still extremely savory. I was going to say they're a little bit like pickled herring, but that probably won’t help. Regardless, I hope you give this spring vegetable tartine a try very soon. Enjoy! 


Ingredients for 4 generous servings:

For the aioli:
1 or 2 garlic cloves, sliced
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
pinch of cayenne

The rest:
4 large thick slices day-old French bread, toasted
16 white anchovy fillets (aka boquerones)
* 2 cups thinly peeled, sliced, or shredded fresh vegetables, moistened with a splash of lemon juice, and drizzle of olive oil.
edible flowers, optional

* Carrots, fennel root, radishes, celery root, asparagus, artichoke hearts, peppers, endive, micro greens, and any/all kinds of sprouts would work beautifully here.
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February 26, 2016
You could roast an expensive leg of lamb for Easter, which would be lovely, but why not consider the lesser known, and just as delicious shoulder roast? This underrated cut is less expensive, very flavorful, and much less stressful.

We usually prepare the leg medium-rare to medium for maximum enjoyment, which requires a little more finesse than a shoulder roast, which we’re going to cook long and slow, until very tender. As long as you let the meat braise until it's falling off the bone, there's no way this isn't going to be great.

Obviously, we’re talking about a completely different texture than roasted lamb, but if you like things like shredded beef, and pulled pork, you will be down with this. As I mentioned in the video, I wanted you to focus on the super easy technique, and not necessarily the ingredients I used.

Honey, vinegar, and mint are classic with lamb, but any other sweet/sour approach should work nicely. You could even cheat, and use your favorite barbecue sauce (you know my favorite), which would be perfect with this rich, succulent cut, as well. I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!


Ingredients for 4 large portions (about 3 sliders per person):
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 1/2 pound bone-in lamb shoulder roast
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 onion, cut in large dice
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons freshly sliced mint

- 325 F. for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or until very tender
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January 29, 2016
This baked Reuben dip works so well that you’ll be racking your brain trying to think of other iconic sandwiches to convert into dip form. Of course, thanks to the Internet, most of this work has probably already been done, but something to keep in mind the next time you’re out of things to daydream about.

I went with pastrami here, but corned beef is more common, and probably the safer bet. Pastrami is heavily spiced with coriander and black pepper, and therefor your dip will be too. I love that kind of thing, but something to consider depending on your audience. No matter what meat you use, you’re going to be enjoying a truly delicious hot dip, which is also great warm, or room temp.

The seeded crackers I used in the video were great, but they’re a little on the pricey side, especially when purchased at the fancy cheese shop, so one of these days I need to show you how to make your own. Unless we all get rich betting on the game, using my guaranteed chicken wing bone method. In that case, we’ll continue to buy the crackers. I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!


Ingredients for 24 servings:
1 pound sliced corned beef or pastrami
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sauerkraut, drained well, squeezed very dry
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 rounded tablespoon ketchup
1 rounded tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup sweet pickle relish
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
cayenne to taste
8 ounces “Swiss” cheese (4 ounces Gruyere and 4 ounces Emmenthaler)
crackers and bread
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January 20, 2016
As promised, here is our method for making your own sandwich rolls at home, and while “shocked” may be a bit strong, I think many people will be surprised at just how simple these are. Like, four ingredient simple. Sure you have to wait a few hours while it rises, but that gives you time to decide what sandwich to make.

Besides the super obvious reasons why these are better than the ones from the supermarket, you can make them the exact size and shape you want. We’ve all been there…you find the perfect sausage at the store, but the rolls in the bakery dept. are either too short, or too long, leaving you angry and disillusioned. 

Like I said in the video, you can pretty much use this technique with any yeast dough, and it just depends on what you’re going for. Speaking of which, a viewer who couldn’t wait for this recipe to make banh mi, used our no-knead beer bread dough, and reported they had great success.

This recipe is based on our French baguette, but if you happen to have luck using another one of our recipes, please let us know! I hope you give these a try soon. Enjoy!


Makes 6 Sandwich Rolls:
1 package dry active yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1 1/2 cups warm water (100 F.)
1 1/2 tsp fine salt
19 ounces (by weight) bread flour (about 4 1/4 cups)
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January 15, 2016
I’ll never forget my first real bánh mì. It was here in San Francisco, at a place called Saigon Sandwich, and I remember thinking to myself, this just isn’t one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had to eat, but one of the best things, period.

Not only do we get amazing contrasts in flavor, and texture, but also the temperature difference between the crisp, warm, meat-filled roll, and cool, crunchy vegetables, makes this so much fun to eat.

By the way, the secret sauce should be just sweet enough to temporarily put out the fire from the sriracha and jalapenos. Which reminds me, everything here is “to taste.” The amounts below are just guidelines, and by guidelines, I mean guesses.

If you’re not into our roasted 5-spice pork for this sandwich, you can pretty much use any of your favorite sandwich ingredients. Ham is great, as is smoked turkey, and while I’ve not tried it yet, I bet many of our grilled chicken breast recipes would be stellar here. Just don’t forget the pate!

I prefer the smooth, buttery type of pate, and you don’t have to get to fancy. That one from the cheese shop, made with pork and chicken livers is just fine. Stay tuned for the French rolls video coming soon, and at some point very soon, I hope you give this a try. Enjoy!


Ingredients for one Bánh Mì:
1 crusty French sandwich roll
3 tablespoons secret sauce (mayo, seasoned to taste with hoisin sauce, and sriracha)
4 ounces roasted pork
2 ounces smooth pate
1/2 cup *pickled daikon and carrot
1/4 cup cilantro leaves
6-7 jalapeno slices
6 thin spears English cucumber

* To make the pickled daikon and carrot, use equal parts and toss in enough seasoned rice vinegar to coat well. Let sit for 15-20 minutes, or until the veggies get slightly limp. Drain and use, or refrigerate. If using regular vinegar, add a pinch of salt and sugar.
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August 26, 2015
Based on the YouTube comments appearing under the newly posted spring rolls video, lots of people missed the part about this not trying to be a specific recipe, but simply a demo featuring the magic that is damp, rice paper wrappers.

Don’t get me wrong; I love the “authentic” spring rolls I so often order at my friendly, neighborhood Vietnamese restaurant. Loaded with sweet shrimp, and bursting with vermicelli noodles, they are among the most delicious things ever invented.

However, I do reserve the right to soak rice paper wrappers in water, and… (I hope you’re sitting down for this) ...not make those! What you see here is just what I had on hand that day, and the next time I do a batch of these, who the heck knows what they’ll encase. If I have a point, that’s it.

Speaking of soaking in water, many commenters suggested that I dunk these in warm water for just a few seconds to hydrate, instead of the longer dip in cold water. I’ve tried both methods, and had more issues with the warmer/faster approach. They seemed to get too rubbery, too fast, which I found made the rolling harder.

Anyway, to each his own, and that goes for water temperature, filling ingredients, and dipping sauce. By the way, there are no ingredient amounts below, since that’s up to you entirely. You should be able to get “rice paper wrappers” at any large grocery store with an Asian food section, but if not, they’re easily found online. I hope you give these, or something similar, a try soon. Enjoy!

Click here to see our peanut sauce recipe video!

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